A cognitive model of learning which suggests that learning is only the commitment of information to long-term memory has gained precedence in schools
Cognitive scientists measured learning through observation of natural learning or through tests in controlled settings. Recently, a particular type of cognitive theory of learning has had a resurgence in education. Educationalists and cognitive scientists such as E.D. Hirsch and Daniel Willingham argue that we should directly apply cognitive models of memory to education and schools. They have the ear of government, and so these theories have led to widespread curriculum change in the UK and the USA.
It’s easy to see why they have had such success. The model of learning they promote sounds so simple and adapts so well to the school model. Willingham sees learning as information committed to long-term memory. This model suggests two forms of memory, working memory and long-term memory. Long-term memory, in contrast with working memory, can hold vast amounts of information, but we can only bring small amounts up to our working memory at a time. Training does not significantly expand our working memory. What is possible is expanding what an ‘item’ in our working memory might be.
Here’s an example to illustrate what this means:
Here’s a set of letters; give yourself a few moments to look at them, then turn the page and see how many you can write down:
F I E N P D K M W P A Q B J O I
Typically, you’ll have remembered between five and eight. That’s a normal span for working memory.
Now try this one:
The enormous turnip jumped over the hedge.
How many letters did you remember here? If you got the whole sentence, it was 35.
And now try this one:
Jfd dscxdwers njeyy aqwqew ecxs ggnn okjko
Also 35 letters, but I’d be surprised if you got all of them. Why the difference?
In the ‘enormous turnip’ example, our brain combines the letters into words, and so we only need to remember the words rather than the individual letters. The meaning makes it easier to remember as well. Our expertise in reading changes how much information we can hold in our working memory. Words act as chunks of letters. In the final example, we don’t have any meaningful combinations and so we are back to the individual letters being the basic piece of information – and we’re stuck with our limited working memory.
References
- Fisher, Naomi. (2021). Changing Our Minds Chapter 2. Learning – Scientists, Processors and Rats (p. 46). London, UK: Robinson Publishing.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Politics / Education / Psychology / Cognitive Science Status:☀️